Jodin Froeber pleads not guilty to sexual assault charge

RACINE CO. -- Town of Somers firefighter Jodin Froeber pleaded not guilty Wednesday, September 5th to a single count of second-degree sexual assault of an intoxicated victim.

Our news partners at Mount Pleasant Patch say Froeber appeared in Racine County Circuit Court with his attorney, Jamie Lavora, before Court Commissioner Alice A. Rudebusch to waive a formal reading of the charges against him and to enter his plea.

Froeber is accused of sexually assaulting a 20-year-old woman while in an ambulance.

According to the criminal complaint against Froeber, the charges stem from an incident which took place on July 19, 2011. According to the sheriff’s department, at around 11:49 a.m., a call to 911 was made for the (woman) who had a seizure at the Trefoil Oak Program Center.

The complaint says Froeber was the only caregiver in the rear of the transporting ambulance with the victim. He was off duty but responded to the center in his personal vehicle.

The complaint indicates at some point while being transported to a hospital, the victim “felt what she perceived to be a man’s hand under her shirt, tank top and bra. She then felt her clothes lift away from her body.”

The complaint says Froeber then lifted the victim’s clothes up. That’s when the victim told police she “heard two distinct clicking sounds, of what she believed to be the shutter of a camera or possibly a cell phone. His hand then released her clothes.”

The complaint says Froeber also lifted the victims shorts and touched her genitals.

The victim told police she was “unable to open her eyes because of how tired the seizure and the medications she was given in the ambulance had made her.”

If convicted, Froeber faces up to 40 years in prison and $100,000 in fines.

Monitor FOX6 News and FOX6Now.com for updates on this developing story.

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